


Dance

by DarkRose89



Category: Vampyr (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, But Mary didn't die, Dancing is not the main topic here, Established Relationship, F/F, Not really an AU, Not sure if I got Mary right, Possible OOC-ness??, but as always I suck at coming up with titles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-20
Updated: 2018-08-20
Packaged: 2019-06-30 07:13:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,752
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15746862
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarkRose89/pseuds/DarkRose89
Summary: Mary might not have liked fancy gatherings before, but as a vampire they're just even more complicated.





	Dance

**Author's Note:**

> This fic (and me shipping them in the first place) was inspired by this lovely drawing (https://yacrazylunatic.tumblr.com/post/176853845220/dont-repostedituse-my-art-without-my) of Mary and Elisabeth dancing by yacrazylunatic (https://yacrazylunatic.tumblr.com/) on tumblr. (Edit: The html I found for linking refused to work, so just c&p the links)
> 
> About Mary's characterisation: I see her as being more in control and a lot calmer in this fic than we see her in the game with Jonathan, so I was trying to write her as a mix of how she might have been as a human and her vampire self, with leaning closer to her human self, especially while around Elisabeth, but I'm really not sure if I managed or if I just ended up making her horribly OOC...
> 
> Also, English isn't my first language, so I'm sorry if there are any words that are too modern for 1918/1919.

Mary Reid hummed softly under her breath as she walked through the dark and blessedly quiet streets of London. Ever since her brother had stopped the epidemic the number of Skals had gone back significantly, and with that the presence of Priwen patrols in the streets had lessened as well. But with the Spanish flu still going on, the quarantine was still held up and the majority of the normal residents kept to staying inside, so the only thing that might disturb the quiet was Jonathan's voice inside her head. But Mary was making good progress with being able to block it out more and more, and at the moment the only thing she could hear were her own footsteps and the occasional rustling and creaking caused by a stronger gust of the cold winter wind blowing through the streets. The quiet had been rare since her rebirth as a vampire, and it put her into a good enough mood that she didn't even realise that she was now herself disturbing the quiet with her humming. 

Jonathan had no idea that Mary was still alive, as alive as a vampire could be considered to be, and Mary intended to keep it that way. After death had failed to claim her a second time, and she had woken up in her grave once more, Mary had stopped trying and eventually decided to try to accept her new unlife.  
'Must have missed the heart. And he considers himself a doctor,' Mary thought, but that thought held more amusement than contempt by now. She had hated her brother for turning her into a vampire, even if it had been an accident, and she had hated him when he had failed to kill her a second time and release her from this existence she had hated just as much, but now that she had had some time to come to better terms with who she was, she didn't feel the same kind of contempt against him anymore.  
Still, while she had continued to watch his progress in saving the city, she had no desire to come face to face with him any time soon, and kept him in the belief that she was truly dead. He hadn't felt her presence the first time until she had wanted him to notice, and he still didn't now.

Mary was approaching a road that would lead her closer to the West End, when she spotted two Priwen patrols further down the road. From what Mary could tell they gave off the appearance of not being that experienced yet, maybe newer recruits, and with how quiet the streets were they didn't pay as much attention to their surroundings as they should have.  
The constant underlying hunger surged up, and Mary inadvertently took a step into their direction. It would be so _easy_... But no. With some effort Mary fought off the temptation, getting herself back under control enough to quietly move into the shadows the building next to her provided before they spotted her. 

While she still fed on humans every now and then, she had better control now than she had had after her awakening, but even back then she hadn't been quite as monstrous as she had wanted Jonathan to believe. She had been desperate and had wanted to give Jonathan a strong enough reason to kill her, but she hadn't enjoyed killing as much as she had pretended. Still, she had been too close to giving in to the beast inside of her, and if she hadn't gotten help to get back more of her control after she had come back from the grave a second time, she wasn't sure how she would have ended up. She had been entirely willing to sacrifice her own mother to achieve her goal after all, and if Jonathan hadn't stopped her... Mary shuddered and quickly cut off her train of thought. She wasn't proud of how she had acted, but at least she was able to control it now. Mostly. 

But she still wasn't sparing the Priwen recruits out of pity for their lives. They would try to put her down the moment they spotted her, so she wouldn't feel too sorry about extending the same behaviour towards them. The reason had much more to do with it bringing about possible inconveniences she didn't want to trouble herself with.  
There weren't many Ekons in the city anymore, even the foreign ones that had come to watch London fall to the epidemic had mostly left voluntarily after her brother had put an end to the vampiric part of the flu and taken away their source of entertainment, and the remaining ones had been killed or chased out by Priwen.  
So the remaining Ekons were few and known by name, and those hunters weren't stupid, if she killed the two in front of her it wouldn't be hard for them to figure out that they hadn't been killed by Skals. And ever since her brother had started to be on _quite_ good terms with their leader, Jonathan and the Priwen patrols had started to go out of each others way on the streets, and even if suspicion fell on him at first it wouldn't last long, and then they might eventually come to the conclusion that there was an Ekon around that they didn't actually know about. And she had no desire to deal with vampire hunters trying to find her. She was good at not getting found when she didn't want to, but it still would be a nuisance. And there might still be the chance that Jonathan would end up getting blamed for their deaths after all, and she didn't actually want to put him into any real risk of getting harmed.  
So with a last look at the two bored looking men half-heartedly watching the empty street, she silently made her way past them and continued on on her way.

A few minutes later she reached Lady Ashbury's mansion and knocked, earlier than the time they had agreed on, but the anticipation of the evening they had planned on had made it too hard for Mary to wait any longer. And not just that, by now she was always eager to see Elisabeth again, Mary thought with a small smile while waiting at the door.

Elisabeth had been the one who had found her after Mary had been forced to claw and dig her way out of her grave once again, and had helped her so much since then that Mary didn't know how she should ever be able to repay the other woman. Not that Elisabeth expected anything of the sort.  
Mary had been sitting on her grave, exhausted and desperate, crying in frustration and smeared with earth and her own blood, being easy prey for either Skal or hunter, but partly also hoping for one of them to find her and end what Jonathan had failed to do, yet it was Elisabeth who had found her. Mary had recognized her as Jonathan's new friend, and had cursed and insulted her, taking her as a substitute for everything she had wanted to say to her brother, yet Elisabeth hadn't left despite Mary's harsh words and instead had offered her help.  
At first Mary hadn't wanted it and had tried to push her away, but Elisabeth had turned out to be quite persistent, and after many nights of the other woman showing up, Mary had started to look forward to seeing her, and had finally even started to seek her out on her own.

Her reminiscing got interrupted by the door opening, and then Elisabeth stood in front of her.  
"Mary!" she said, offering her a warm smile in greeting. "You're quite early."  
There was no accusation in that statement, and Mary returned the smile, taking in Elisabeth's appearance. It was obvious that she hadn't expected Mary just yet since she wasn't finished with getting ready for the evening, her usually tightly tied up hair still open and falling over her shoulders.  
'I really don't understand how Jonathan could let her go.' Mary thought. 'And trade her in for a hunter of all people.' Though considering how things had turned out, Mary really couldn't judge him. Her smile getting wider, Mary reached out and let her hand run through a strand of Elisabeth's hair.  
"You should stay like this," she stated, taken in by how even more beautiful Elisabeth looked like this.  
Elisabeth's cheeks coloured in a barely noticeable way, and she lowered her eyes, though her smile didn't lessen.  
"That would hardly be proper, my dear Mary."  
"Oh who cares," Mary said lightly, then, after thinking for a moment, reached up and quickly undid her own tied up hair, and combed her fingers through it, smoothing it out. "There, now we match!"  
Mary's smile had turned into a grin, and Elisabeth shook her head in amusement.  
"I suppose I have no choice now. But please, come in, I should at least comb my hair properly if I'm going to leave it open."

When they arrived at their destination for the evening, Mary stopped on the opposite side of the road, letting her eyes travel over the lit windows of the mansion she and Elisabeth were standing in front of, and feeling a pang of nervousness in her guts after all. It had been her own idea, but now she suddenly wasn't sure if it had been really such a good idea.  
Elisabeth, noticing her discomfort, put her hand on Mary's arm in a comforting way. "Don't worry my dear, no one there will recognize you," she said, and Mary nodded, hoping her words to be true. 

With the West End having been the least affected by the epidemic, there were still a considerate number of nobles who wouldn't let a flu stop themselves from having the occasional celebration, some for more important reasons, some simply because they wanted to.  
And while Mary hadn't been too interested in those celebrations while she had still been mortal, there were still moments where she was suffering from how detached she was forced to be from everyone now, so she had been hoping that mingling with people might give her back the feeling of being human, if only for a little while. Elisabeth had supported the idea, and through her various connections they had found this particular get-together, which guest list consisted only of people that weren't acquainted with the Reid family.  
Elisabeth trusted her sources, and Mary trusted Elisabeth, but now that they had arrived, it didn't stop her from still feeling worried if someone in there might recognize her after all. She was officially dead, so rumours of her having been spotted at a celebration was something she very much wanted to avoid. Still, she had wanted this and she wasn't going to let her worry stop herself.  
"Let's go!" she said, having made up her mind and walked forward towards the door with quick confident steps, Elisabeth right beside her.

With their vampire powers it was easy enough to convince the person at the door welcoming the guests that they were on the guest list too and to get invited in, and then they were finally inside, surrounded by elegantly dressed people, holding wine glasses and making small talk.  
Mary discretely looked around the room, making sure that there really wasn't anyone who could recognize her, and when she only saw unfamiliar faces, she let herself relax and look at the crowd in a more casual way. The various wine glasses made Mary think that it would be so easy to hold a similar glass filled with blood, pretending it to be wine, and no one would know. The thought made her grin, but then the mental image of blood made her very much aware of how crowded the room was and how much blood each and everyone of the people here had in their veins.  
Mary fought down the predatory snarl that had threatened to rise up in her throat and closed her eyes for a moment, trying to get herself back under control. She had been aware that proximity to so many people might be an issue, and with the help of Elisabeth had tried to prepare herself for it.  
It wasn't easy but after a few moments she had herself back under control enough to open her eyes again and looked for Elisabeth, who as she now noticed hadn't moved from her side.  
"Will you be alright?" she asked and Mary nodded.  
"Just a temporary slip," she replied, looking at Elisabeth, who seemed perfectly in control. "What about you?" she added, even though she could guess the answer, keeping her voice low enough that it wouldn't be picked up by the people standing close to them.  
"I would be lying if I said that it was easy," Elisabeth replied in the same quiet voice and with a small smile that seemed to hold some underlying sadness. "But I have had the time to have gotten more experience with those kind of situations."  
Had she been to many celebrations filled with humans before? Mary wondered, but didn't ask. She didn't know much about Elisabeth's past, but the other woman was a very private person and Mary respected her need for privacy. Mary hadn't spoken too much about her deceased husband and son either, the memory still being too painful, so she understood Elisabeth's reluctance to talk about her own past. They would both do so when they were ready.  
But thinking about those things wasn't what she was here for, she was here for mingling and seeing if it would help her feel more human, so that was what she was going to do.

"I remember again why I never liked those gatherings," Mary said some time later, having moved further away from the crowd and standing close to a table at a wall with Elisabeth, where it wasn't much quieter, but at least less crowded. "Fake smiles and even more fake words." Still, it had made her feel almost as if she was back at one of the gatherings her parents, and later only her mother, had made her and Jonathan attend.  
Elisabeth chuckled. "Then we fit right in, don't we? We too pretend to be someone we are not."  
"True," Mary agreed with a shrug, surprisingly not even bothered that Elisabeth had reminded her just how much things weren't like before. She couldn't imagine it had been on purpose either.  
Then, even though Elisabeth hadn't asked, she added: "Jonathan never liked those celebrations either. He was just better at being charming and hiding it."  
"Yes, I can imagine it. He is good at that." Mary caught the fond smile on Elisabeth's face and even though she knew there was no reason for it, she felt a small stab of jealousy.  
"Do you regret it?" she asked. "That you ended your relationship with him?"  
"Oh, not at all. He is still a very dear friend, and we both agreed that we were working better as friends than a couple. And besides..." Elisabeth added after a short pause and Mary could feel her hand in hers for a moment, giving her a reassuring squeeze. "I would have missed out on you, if we had stayed with each other."  
Mary felt warmth flood her at the statement, and she looked directly at Elisabeth's face, their eyes locking, and she couldn't look away from the green of Elisabeth's eyes. If only they weren't in public. She wanted so much to run her hand through the other woman's hair again, cup her face and lean closer, taste her lips... But before Mary could decide to risk the scandal and just do so, they were interrupted by a shriek, that turned into yelling, followed immediately by a different voice apologizing profoundly. 

Both Mary and Elisabeth startled and looked into the direction of the noise, and Mary saw what had caused the commotion. A waiter must have stumbled or being pushed by the crowd and had ended up spilling the contents of the wine glasses he had been carrying all over some poor woman's dress, staining her throat and most of the front of her dress with red wine. Mary wanted to look away and turn her attention back to Elisabeth, not interested in the dramatic antics that would surely follow, but found that she couldn't pull her gaze away from the red droplets running down the woman's throat.  
'It's just wine,' she told herself, but that didn't stop her mind from conjuring up the imagine of the red being blood instead, and her gaze fixed itself on where she knew the woman's carotid artery was. The world shifted to grey before she had a chance to fight it, her eyes providing her with the imagine of just where exactly the artery was, it, along with the rest of the blood in her body, glowing in a tempting red. Mary could feel her fangs lengthening, pushing against her lower lip, and she took a step forward, eyes fixed on the pulsing red of the woman's heart, sped up by her anger over the spilled wine and ruined dress. There was more red around the woman, it filling the room, so many beating hearts, so much blood, and the beast inside her sang, looking forward to a feast. A tiny voice inside her head protested, telling her to stop, but she pushed it away. They were all mortals, all weak, none of them would be a threat, so why should she stop?  
"...ry! Mary, stop!" A voice pushed through the haze in her mind, a very real voice this time, and she could feel a hand on her shoulder holding her back.  
"Let me go, Elisabeth!" she snarled, recognizing the voice, but still being too far gone for her words to be enough to stop her. Still, something about it rooted her in place. She could have easily walked away from Elisabeth's hand on her shoulder, but she didn't.  
"Close your eyes." Elisabeth's voice was right next to her ear now, and Mary found herself following the order. "Don't look at them."  
There was an arm around her waist and she could feel herself being turned around and lead somewhere, out of the room, indicated by the sounds of the hall getting more quiet.

They only stopped when the voices of the crowd and the music had faded to a dull background murmur, and Mary opened her eyes again. The world was back in colour and she could see that they were standing in the garden behind the house, that was dark and seemed to be off limits to the guests for the evening. Elisabeth was standing in front of her, her eyes full of worry.  
"I'm... fine," Mary said, running a hand through her hair and turned away, pretending to take a look around the garden, though she was still attempting to calm herself and didn't take in much of her surroundings. The beast inside was furious about the denied meal, the hunger still gnawing in her guts, and she was worried that she might lash out at Elisabeth without wanting to. Only when she felt that her control had fully come back did she turn back around to look at Elisabeth.  
"Thank you," she said, and meant it. "This shouldn't have happened."  
Elisabeth shook her head and took a step forward, putting a hand on Mary's cheek. "Don't blame yourself, dear, the incident with the wine wasn't something either of us could have foreseen. And you were doing so well the rest of the evening."  
Mary thought back to how she had been close to losing control when they had arrived, only because of the thought of blood, but she didn't bring it up.  
She didn't want to talk about it, or about her actually losing control just now. There just didn't seem to be a way to truly forget about her vampire condition, and it was a lesson she didn't want to discuss or even think about at the moment. 

"I didn't even get a chance to dance with you," she said instead, in an attempt to change the topic, even though she mostly likely wouldn't have gotten that chance either way.  
"Oh," Elisabeth said, and in her eyes and expression Mary could see that Elisabeth had accepted the change of topic and was going along with it. "That is something that should be remedied."  
With those words she took a step back and extended her hand to Mary in invitation.  
"May I have this dance, Lady Reid?" she asked with a slight bow, and after the first surprise about the gesture, Mary took the offered hand.  
"It would be a pleasure, Lady Ashbury."

There was a moment where they just stood there, hand in hand and looking into each others eyes, but then Elisabeth moved and pulled Mary towards her against her body, starting the dance, with Mary easily falling in step. The music coming from the mansion might have been dulled down through the closed doors, but if Mary concentrated on it she could hear it better, thanks to her vampiric senses, and she was sure it was the same for Elisabeth.  
Mary closed her eyes, letting herself be lead by Elisabeth, and if she concentrated on the music enough it almost felt as if they weren't dancing alone in the backyard but were there in the hall, dancing to an orchestra playing soft music only for them. Mary couldn't stop smiling, and neither did she want to, and when she opened her eyes again after what felt like an eternity, she could see that Elisabeth had her eyes closed as well, a similar expression on her face. This time Mary didn't resist the urge to kiss Elisabeth and she leaned forward, placing her lips over Elisabeth's in a soft kiss. Elisabeth didn't entirely stop their dance, but slowed down while letting out a content sigh, then placed her hand that had been holding Mary's over her hip and pulled her closer, returning the kiss.  
The evening might not have turned out as she had hoped but it did have a nice ending at least, Mary thought, as she moved her hands up to cup Elisabeth's face, her fingers playing with strands of Elisabeth's hair while they continued to sway to the music. A very nice ending indeed.

**Author's Note:**

> No, that last sentence isn't me praising my own ending here, I just couldn't come up with a better sentence to end the fic with :P


End file.
